The Amish Voice 8
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The following letter is in response to
the article labeled Excommunication
and Shunning, January 2011 issue.
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Dear Fellow Pilgrim, greetings in the name
of our Savior Jesus Christ. Have often been
tempted to write to you and just kept put-
ting it off. You write many good articles
and just received your last writing a few
days ago.
After reading your article on excommuni-
cation and shunning, I was moved to write.
For the most part I am agreed with your
view. I do have some questions. Do you
belong to a church that has no guide lines
or anything that you can’t read in the New
Testament?
Joe Responds:
I have been part of the
same church for 24 years. And in that
time, I have seen God do many wonder-
ful things in the Body of Christ.
During those same years, I have also, at
times, looked on as Satan caused havoc
among God’s family members. In each
situation, the church leaders had to step
in and use church discipline, as outlined
in various parts of the New Testament.
Yes, we have guidelines that we follow
very closely. No, they aren’t written on
paper as some might expect; they are
listed throughout the New Testament.
The following are some areas of which I
speak of:
Galatians chapter 5:19-21
Colossians 3:5-9
1 Corinthians chapter 5
At times, when the Scriptures are not as
black and white as we wish they were,
and when something comes up that
Scripture does not deal with directly, we
try to use prayer and 14th chapter of
Romans as our guide.
Illinois Reader Writes:
Would be curious
to know, when Achan stole the Gold and
Silver sheckels, he done so without any of
the Israelites knowing. You say, because of
this, God blamed everyone and was angry
at everyone. In your next paragraph you
wonder how many innocent church mem-
bers are suffering severe consequences
because nothing is being done to purge
out the sin that has sprung up among us
today. Are you saying if we have one mem-
ber in our church with a hidden sin that
we don’t know about then the whole
church is condemned? (hope not)
If this were the case, then what church
would we feel comfortable in? Maybe I
misunderstood your reason for mention-
ing Achan and how God dealt with them. If
you didn’t mean to say these examples
apply to us today then what was the rea-
son for giving them. Am not sure I am un-
derstanding what you meant to say.
Joe Responds:
Yes, I have to believe if
there is un-confessed sin within the
camp (church body), and the leaders
and lay members turn a blind eye to-
ward that sin, it is very possible that it
could devastate the whole body.
The reason I believe that is because of
what is recorded in the following areas
of the New Testament:
In Luke 12:1, Jesus said:
“...Beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy.”
Before we discuss the
“leaven of the
Pharisees”
, let’s consider what
leaven
is
and does.
Leaven
is simply another
word for yeast, and if you know much
about yeast, you will understand that a
very small amount of yeast, added to
bread dough, will quickly spread
throughout the whole dough and cause
it to rise.
Consider Jesus’ ongoing conversation in
Luke chapter 12, as He further explains
leaven.
Verse 21 says:
“It is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened.”
The Pharisees believed in a personal
God and in the Scripture as God's Word
to man, but they added to God's Word.
Or in this case, we might say, “they
added some of their own leaven (man-
made rules and regulations) to God’s
Word.
In the case of the Pharisees, this led to
three gross errors.
1. It led people to think that their good
behavior and their religious rituals
and ceremonies made them accept-
able to God. A religion of good
works—of trying to do enough good
To Kill a Lion
Destroying the Power of Lust From the Root
This is a new book by Bruce Lengeman designed to help men find the roots of their sexual addic-
tion. The theme is “Men cry out, I know it is wrong, but why can’t I stop!” The book is for both
counselors and strugglers.
To Kill a Lion
will help men understand their own sexuality, and what
makes it operate “out of alignment” with God’s design. You’ll learn why it is healthy to be sexual
as a man, but in a pure and Godly way. Though this book was not written for women, many are
reading it and getting understanding of things they never knew about sexuality.
To order, either call the MAP ministry at (419) 962-1515 or mail
a check to “The Amish Voice, PO Box 128, Savannah OH 44874
The price of the book is $17 (includes S&H)
Excommunication and Shunning (Part 3)
—Written by Joe Keim
Continued next page —>
Commandments
Of God
Commandments
Of Men